Good Morning America (GMA) is reporting that the new trend, known as the K-E diet, has become increasingly popular with brides. Promising to shed 20 pounds in 10 days, women are fed a constant slow drip of protein and fat mixed with water that runs into their stomach via a feeding tube inserted in the nose. The 800 calorie diet allows the body to burn off fat through a process called ketosis, which leaves muscle intact.
"It is a hunger-free, effective way of dieting," said Dr. Oliver Di Pietro of Bay Harbor, Florida. "Within a few hours your hunger and appetite go away completely, so patients are actually not hungry at all for the whole 10 days. That's what is so amazing about this diet."
The program can cost up to $1,500 and is administered under a doctor's supervision with no hospitalization required. Women simply carry their food solution with them wherever they go and keep the tube in their noses for 10 consecutive days.
Side effects are minimal, Di Pietro says, and consists of mainly bad breath and some constipation because of the lack of fiber in the diet.
One bride-to-be, Jessica Schnaider, 41, of Surfside, Florida, went on the K-E diet to lose 10 pounds before her June wedding. Even though she wasn't hungry during her time on the feeding tube, it still wasn't easy.
"It was emotionally difficult, the 10 days of not eating," Schnaider told GMA. "And sometimes I had to give excuses to people who were asking are you sick? And I was like, 'No, I'm not sick, I'm not dying, I'm fine.'
"I was tired. I didn't feel like exercising. The doctor told me that if you can compliment with walking for a half an hour on the beach, that would be great, but I didn't feel like doing that. I'm a very energetic person, but those days I was a little tired."
While the diet is new to the U.S., it's been used in Europe for some time, but not all doctors are on board. Many blame the pressure on being the "perfect bride" as the reason why women turn to such a desperate measure.
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com
